A letter from the lead designer: The future of VEGA Conflict.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, we'd like to take this opportunity to share with you our plans for the new year and possibly beyond. Who better to lay it all out than our lead designer. Without further ado:

Many of you have probably been seeing some of the new features and direction for VEGA Conflict over the last few months and are wondering what the future holds for the game. This is a fair concern to have: there have been a large number of changes to the game structure lately, and with that is going to come both hopes and concerns for the future direction of the game.

So let’s talk about the game as a whole, and the future of the game as a whole.

So is VEGA Conflict now all about crafting and farming for materials?

No.

I don’t believe you.

Crafting and farming isn’t what we want VEGA Conflict to be famous for. What we want VEGA Conflict to be about is war. Lots of players, all online, all warring. Sometimes with VEGA, sometimes with each other.

So if that’s true, why all this effort on crafting?

The intent of the crafting system is to create something that lets us extend the longevity of our existing content. Why is that so important? I’ll cover that further down. For now, just trust me.

Crafting provides us with a range of different components and materials that can be fed both into improving existing hulls, as well as opening up new ways of delivering other content without relying exclusively on coins, blood amber and resources. This gives us the necessary framework for a content chain that can take us far into the future without needing to rush out new tech every four weeks.

Crafting also allows us to make improvements to the Black Market, such as allowing you to use crafting materials as currency. This then gives us new ways to introduce content outside of blueprints or straight blood amber, which in turn allows us to re-balance blood amber and make it more worth the hassle of collecting it.

All of this means we’ve got a longer and larger content chain that requires less direct maintenance from us, which then means we can do more cool things with it rather than focusing on the delivery mechanism itself.

Wait a second. You just said before that the future isn’t crafting, then you went on to talk about crafting!

Fair call. I’ve said what I wanted to say about crafting, so let's talk about the real future of VEGA Conflict. Where we are going next.

The system of events and riots is something that has been working well for us, but we’re acutely aware that this isn’t something we can continue to run in their current form forever. So we’re looking at a very different approach.

We’ve got new event hulls coming out over the next few months that will complete out the set for all the existing factions, specifically V-Sec and Iron Star Company. Once the last of these hulls is out, we aren’t going to be releasing a new faction - at least not for a while. Iron Star Company is the end of that line for standard hulls for the near-term future.

So if you aren’t adding a new faction then what are you doing?

Firstly, we’re taking a much harder look at flagships. There’s a fair number of ideas we’re playing with here, and we’re looking at making flagships a fairly integral part of the game’s future. The future direction for flagships has a very clear primary focus in mind: PvP. Yes, you read correctly. The primary purpose for flagship balance moving forward is all about crushing other players. Effectiveness against VEGA fleets is a side benefit.

Secondly, we’re looking at doing some fairly chunky rebalancing to the entire existing game. A big part of this means making the game as a whole clearer with regard to what you are getting and what you are getting into. For example, letting us make sure that when fleet says it is level 40, it means level 40 and not ‘somewhere between 20 and 100.’

Some of these changes are things we’ve already started working on. The ISC Frigate and ISC Carrier both represent a different design direction than what you’ve seen to date. CM LXC will be releasing more information about those hulls when their respective events come closer, but you should expect something different than what you’re used to in both cases.

Stop a second. You can’t just write a couple of sentences about rebalancing without giving me details. Give me the details! Especially the details about <insert pet peeve here>!

We’re looking at pretty much everything. This means hull roles and their balance against one another, such as frigates (who uses frigates?) and battleships (who doesn’t use battleships?) - but not exclusively those two. Yes, carriers as well. It means build times, repair times, refit times, weapon balance (even the Vector Torpedo). It means the Black Market is getting a total facelift, because wow does it need one.

With a re-focus on PvP comes necessary re-focus on game balance everywhere. VEGA Conflict is not a small game, so this isn’t going to be a quick process. This is why having something that lets us extend the longevity of our existing content is so important. (This was the bit you were holding that trust for from earlier, just in case you were wondering).

It is important to stress that just because we are looking at everything, that doesn’t mean everything is going to change. It means everything is going to get looked at. Carefully. With consideration for how it fits into the game as it is today, not the game as it was when that thing was put into the game. In fact: the less we can change, the happier I’ll be. But some things are going to have to change, because as they are right now they’re just not doing their job.

Like the Vector Torpedo. That one we are definitely changing.

So everything means the Rapture and the Mk E upgrades as well, right?

No. Well, the Rapture may get reviewed, but that doesn’t mean it is definitely going to get a full suite of crafting upgrades. I recommend not holding your breath. The Mk E upgrades are, however, not coming out again. We’ve got the new upgrade system now, that’s the one we’re going to focus on.

Why would you do this now?

Because what we want the game to be is one of the best free-to-play cross-platform MMO wargames. And wargame means player vs. player, alliance vs. alliance and sector vs. sector. It means building your war-fleets and grinding your enemies into space-dust. It means that VEGA are a fun group to hate, but your real enemies are other players.

So with that said, let’s take a look at some of the big ticket items we’re working on right now.

Sector War / Civil War

This is one of our new event formats we’re looking to run next year. Simply put, you get your event points and prizes not for hitting a variety of V-Sec targets with points values, but for inflicting as much hurt on players who are not part of your sector as possible. Fleets and bases are both fair game, and you get points not for the level of fleet you destroy, but for the amount of damage you do. This means that the more skill you have, the more points you will earn. It really is that simple.

Rewards for Sector War aren’t just based on personal performance, either. There are rewards for the best alliances and the best sectors as well. It is called Sector War, after all. Or, at least, it is currently called Sector War.

At this point I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on how Sector War works, but simply say that this is what is coming. There’ll be more posts on this in the future as the feature itself matures.

So is it Sector War or Civil War?

Probably neither? We haven’t settled on a final name for it yet. Stop asking.

PvP Co-Op

This is the other big lynchpin feature of the game direction in the new year. Initially only during the Sector Wars event, and then perhaps opened up in future, you will be able to warp your fleet into a fight to join an alliance-mate, and both of you will be in battle together. Of course, your opponent is able to do the exact same thing.

This will adhere to the same gating rules that already exist in the game.

Initially this will be limited only to fleet vs. fleet; bases won’t be included in this equation. You will also not be allowed to join your own fleets; only those of alliance-mates. However, there is no requirement for your alliance-mate to be online. What this means is that if you deploy a fleet to guard your base and someone attacks it, one of your alliance-mates who is online at the time can send a fleet to join the defence.

Those sound really awesome! Why aren’t they in the game right now?

I’m going to ignore that question, because it is a silly question. You know how games dev works, right?

Right. I’m totally cool with how games dev works, and I understand how much time these things take. I’m actually not that impatient. I respect that these things don’t happen overnight. I can wait. But even so, what comes after all that?

At this point it gets woolly, because you’re asking me to talk about the distant future. I can say these are what we’re thinking of right now, but it’s only thoughts right now so it’s almost definitely going to change. In fact, you should probably ignore everything in this list.

One-to-One messaging, or direct messaging if you prefer that description

New alliance features, such as alliance coalitions

Alliance crafting: being able to contribute resources to help your friends

Different PvP events, such as the ability to capture and hold certain key areas/facilities

On top of all of this, there are Quality-of-Life changes we’re going to keep making to the game. Everyone has their favourite part of the UI to hate, or their favourite thing that just annoys them intensely. That train never stops.

Cool! So this is definitely what is coming up in the game. Thanks!

Wait, no. Stop. I just told you that there’s a huge amount of subject-to-change on all of this. This is just me explaining where we’re intending to go. This is almost definitely all going to change; this is just the future plan as of December 2015. The whole plan will probably look different by the middle of 2016.

this gives a unfair advantage to coin spammers because they could send 11 cutters and a carriar at me at the same time

plus, what if im on my own for whatever reason? then two people can fight me at once and just wreck me because they have twice the capacity of my single fleet. this is massively unfair to individuals

As stated in the post, this is a work in progress. It purposely doesn't go into how the feature works. Things like that will be worked out in playtesting. Rest assured I brought that very topic up during the kick off meeting. One (proposed) solution was to not allow co-op if the defending player is not in an alliance. Another (in my opinion, better) solution is to have the option of co-op fall on the defenders (person who was attacked) side, so an attacker cannot call for reinforcements until the defender does.

Don't get too concerned over small details yet. This is just an idea of where we want the game to go, and where we envision the game being a year or two down the line. How does that expression go? Don't miss the forest because you can't see past the trees.

this gives a unfair advantage to coin spammers because they could send 11 cutters and a carriar at me at the same time

plus, what if im on my own for whatever reason? then two people can fight me at once and just wreck me because they have twice the capacity of my single fleet. this is massively unfair to individuals

As stated in the post, this is a work in progress. It purposely doesn't go into how the feature works. Things like that will be worked out in playtesting. Rest assured I brought that very topic up during the kick off meeting. One (proposed) solution was to not allow co-op if the defending player is not in an alliance. Another (in my opinion, better) solution is to have the option of co-op fall on the defenders (person who was attacked) side, so an attacker cannot call for reinforcements until the defender does.

Don't get too concerned over small details yet. This is just an idea of where we want the game to go, and where we envision the game being a year or two down the line. How does that expression go? Don't miss the forest because you can't see past the trees.

i like the idea of the defender making the choice.

still though, lotta things in that post that seem rather spooky, lotta things that seem cool too though

cant wait for non carrier flagships, also dreading the thought of having my dreads rebalanced

i will be VERY annoyed if i actually have to learn how to fly a cruiser, ive been using battleships since i started and have no idea how to fly a cruiser right

frigates though, well im the best eagle pilot there ever was

it takes an anvil to make an anvil, begs the question where the first anvil came from

Yeah...gotta agree with zed on this one, that should not be sonething yiu just let happen. Think there needs to be a que for that. It's called double teaming in basketball because its way overpowering. Big alliances will always have the advantage and the individual players will never win fights no matter how good they are. Everything you guys have done so far has been to take the skill out of flying, yet again you fail to disappoint our expectations...

Why is crafting so unbalanced in favor of battleships and carriers? The cruisers get so little bonus from crafting and get so little mass removed compared to battleships and carriers. And they get a bonus against frigates but there are no really big frigates. Why dont cruisers get a bonus against cutters instead of frigates? Frigates also get so little mass taken off from crafting. They just get less thruster mass but there is only one thruster and it is lightweight on frigates. And frigates get bonus against destroyers but no one uses destroyers in high level pvp. Why dont frigates get a bonus against battleships like cutters do?
When can we expect crafting for the iron star corporation hulls like python, heretic and osprey? Will Osprey get another weapon slot at mk4?

Why is crafting so unbalanced in favor of battleships and carriers? The cruisers get so little bonus from crafting and get so little mass removed compared to battleships and carriers. And they get a bonus against frigates but there are no really big frigates. Why dont cruisers get a bonus against cutters instead of frigates? Frigates also get so little mass taken off from crafting. They just get less thruster mass but there is only one thruster and it is lightweight on frigates. And frigates get bonus against destroyers but no one uses destroyers in high level pvp. Why dont frigates get a bonus against battleships like cutters do?
When can we expect crafting for the iron star corporation hulls like python, heretic and osprey? Will Osprey get another weapon slot at mk4?

when the game is rebalanced they might be usefulLXC said that they would make frigates better, so they may end up being the counter to cutters (idk how though since a cutter is a modded frigate)

it takes an anvil to make an anvil, begs the question where the first anvil came from

War events will be hard to accomplish because unlike normal events most of the ppl wont get away with 1-2% damage. If it's dread/zeal+rag against cruisers it's almost 0% damage for the 1st. If fleet vs equal fleet it's almost 100% damage to the both. While medium player has 7-10 fighting fleet that means 7-10 fights at max. After this it's days of repairing. Who u think will profit with that system? Coiners? No doubt

So we all know the future event hulls for the next few months...... n as for those we have no idea of, I'm gonna go suggest some random names for them
Vsec: Valkyrie Carrier (we all know this one)
Iron star: Falcon Frigate
Mjolnir Carrier

suggestions:
1. maybe you could bring back the old vega ships before they were switched to the apoc n so on? That'd be interesting.
2. You could also introduce the hulls that we see in the lower levels, like the wrath battleship, torment battleship ezekiel cruiser vulture frigate..... kind of a downgraded version of some of the vega hulls, maybe give them to lower lvl players or smth, idk just a random suggestion....

Also, like destroyer said, I'm totally against the idea of having pvp events replace the current structure of events.... that will mean top alliances get everything n some old players who weren't in an alliance or whatsoever can't get it.

I'm looking forward to a new event and prize redemption function also, the base defense element in revenge and reclamation is a good start, and I hope that there will be more of such events n variations, but of course do make sure that we r informed early so we can adapt accordingly and it is balanced sufficiently. (I'll come to that in a moment)

Another suggestion: maybe u could have gigantic store for hulls/weapons like u did in battle pirates where players can redeem prizes and so on from a select number of tiers? Again balance, make sure that the cost isn't so high that its nigh impossible to get it...

So now to the topic of balance, WHICH I CAN'T STRESS enough......
Kix, when you said you will balance, pls do it... really, I'm tired of seeing carrier battleship/Cutter battles 24/7 in my own sector..... especially when u have plans to introduce more flagships, balance is going to be very important.

Also, another important thing
please look towards making the events doable, war front was horrible esp since everything in the 55s had such high dmg....
Key pointers from warfront:

The range n damage buff on the vector eagles was srsly WTF??????

And indestructible squadrons....... if ours was designed to be destructible, please make theirs destructible also, like in the komodo event (Martial law). Besides, story wise it also doesn't make sense. Didn't we steal the technology from them? Shldnt ours be as strong as theirs? (From multiple events)

Yes i know events r for high players n riots for everyone esp low lvl players I understand u want to have a difficulty that is hard but doable in some way for low lvl players and medium-difficult for high lvl players, but srsly, don't overdo it.

Overall, I would say 2015 has been a golden age for me in VEGA, and I hope 2016 will be the same.

N regarding the topic of the rapture...... yes it's maneuverable n agile as ****, but I can see weaknesses that can be exploited. I've killed raptures with apocs before. N I doubt it's because the pilot sucks because I myself am not such a skilled flyer. So I don't understand why so many ppl think it's so OP. Plus I'm sure some players r looking forward to completing their hull collection....

That's GDIAX, the thief and VEGA Hunter here, Signing off.

Admiral and Head Intelligence Officer of the Frontier Liberation Army.

It will be forever the worst Free to play game ever, because repair times are ridiculously stupid. Things can go up to 16 hours on average for end gamers using end gamer fleets because thats the only way to defeat an enemy. And you said "the less change the better". I will completely agree with you, only if you fix the repair times and the build times, thats the only **** thing that has ever been needed ever. Vega Conflict is on a league of its own, you cant follow other games like Clash of Clans where theyhave "X amount of ridiculous wait" before you can play "X^1/100 of the play time you waited for to play. Following up comment on steam: Vega Conflict; Free to Wait, Pay to play.

Thats precisely what the crafting system has done to your FVF system. MK5s literally roll down any MK1 fleet, Get farming? Well many people have quit this stupid astroid agricultural game because of that. The simple solution again was, you could have included that into Missions, I dont get the big deal of just giving us the parts with one THROUGH Missions, instead of always hiting the same stupid **** fleets over and over and getting the rubbish you dont NEED.

LXC, Fact is, Kixeye can always introduce more of X content and Y content, but when a company's main agenda is focused on money, with each game update, it's just going to get worst. You may say "we've brought in the lead designer and whatnot", but fact is, if you focus on a game that prioritizes on making money instead of a quality game, then Kixeye is obviously not learning from their past mistakes (Battle Pirates, War Commander)

And This is a message from all the players to Kixeye; NPAPI is being discontinued very quickly, so your success which was depended on the browser and your so called "Free to play" games formula isnt going to work anymore. And people arnt going to play a game that runs for 5 minutes per 16 hour repair of Each Fleet. Cuz its a fact, you want us to get all these end game content to participate in all these kickass end game events, but we arnt motivated to simply because;

1. A week on Average to build a SINGLE ship2. After 60 days, finishes building fleet then what?3. New ships are introdued to make built ships obosolete

Fact fact and fact;

Dont tell me otherwise.

I wont even begin to touch about the chinese way cheeper coins that we are or the fact that they're using scripts OR sharing multiple accounts. Im sure you already know the answer.

So unless this is what kixeye has paid you to say or not say, look at your past success,

which was the most prominent time for Vega Conflict?

Obviously during Flash; when repair times weren't ridiculously retardious and at most we had to wait for an end-game combat were FVF Hawks which were 6 hours at most.

What I find worst is, despite everything you said being true, its probably not going to do even a little bit of difference. Even if every single person in the development team agreed with you, Kixeye's CEO has total power, and as we all know, all he cares about is money...

What I find worst is, despite everything you said being true, its probably not going to do even a little bit of difference. Even if every single person in the development team agreed with you, Kixeye's CEO has total power, and as we all know, all he cares about is money...

the only problem I have is with sector versus sector Warfare events in other words in the fact that mega coiner factions or alliances will be far superior to more non coiner alliances and highly unfair on those of us that play it free to play and or on their own and not in a giant Alliance or coalition.